What Does It Cost to Import an Excavator?

What makes up the cost of importing an excavator

Five costs sit on top of the digger's price, including import duty, GST or VAT, biosecurity cleaning and inspection, freight, and customs broker fees. Governments publish duty and tax rates. Freight and broker fees change with each shipment.

Our guide to what determines a used excavator's price covers the excavator itself. This page covers the added import costs.

Duty: free in some markets, a few percent in others

Country	Import duty	Source
New Zealand	Can be duty free under NZ's free trade agreements with a valid Certificate of Origin. Check with a customs broker. 5% Normal Tariff without one	NZ Customs, Working Tariff Section XVI
Australia	Free, whatever country the machine's built in. It's the general Schedule 3 rate, not a trade concession	ABF tariff schedule, Chapter 84
Fiji	Depends on the exact tariff line and whether the machine's new or used. Confirm the number with FRCS or a broker	Fiji Revenue and Customs Service (no official duty figure we could confirm)
Tonga	3%	Tonga customs tariffs and fees
Papua New Guinea	Free	PNG duty schedule

Figures as at September 2026. Confirm the current rate with a customs broker before you commit.

Tonga's separate 15% charge is often mistaken for its 3% duty. Fiji's rate needs checking with a broker.

GST or VAT: the steadier number

Country	Tax	Rate	Source
New Zealand	GST	15%	IRD
Australia	GST	10%	ATO
Fiji	VAT	12.5% (from 1 August 2025)	FRCS
Tonga	Consumption Tax	15%	Tonga customs
Papua New Guinea	GST	10% (reported, confirm with a broker)	PNG National Trade Portal

Figures as at September 2026. Check the current rate with your customs broker before you commit.

New Zealand's GST applies to the machine's value plus duty, freight and insurance. IRD calls it "a tax added to the price of most goods and services, including imports," "charged at a rate of 15%" (ird.govt.nz/gst).

Australia's GST applies to the customs value plus duty, transport and insurance. The ATO page, last updated 14 September 2026, calls GST "a broad-based tax of 10% on most goods, services and other items sold or consumed in Australia" (ato.gov.au).

Fiji's rate changed recently. FRCS says "the VAT rate is being reduced from 15% to 12.50%" (FRCS VAT notice). Anything written before 1 August 2025 is out of date.

Tonga's Consumption Tax sits on top of its 3% duty. This is the charge often mistaken for duty. Its tariff page says "in addition to duties and taxes, you may be required to pay a processing fee as well as 15% Consumption Tax" (revenue.gov.to).

Papua New Guinea's GST is reported by its Internal Revenue Commission on the National Trade Portal (nto.gov.pg/irc-gst). Confirm the treatment with a broker before relying on it.

In NZ and Australia, a GST-registered business generally claims the tax back as a credit on its return. The ATO says "you can claim a credit for any GST included in the price you pay for things you use in your business." GST is then a temporary cash-flow cost, recovered on the next return. This hasn't been confirmed for Fiji, Tonga or PNG, so don't assume the same treatment.

Biosecurity: what each market checks

All five markets check the excavator before it lands, but the process varies. New Zealand's MPI can require partial dismantling to reach trapped soil. Australia's BICON standard requires an "as new" clean, with zero tolerance on arrival. Fiji's Biosecurity Authority requires machinery free of soil and organic material before shipping. Tonga inspects and photographs machines at Nuku'alofa port, as far as we can find. Papua New Guinea's NAQIA handles quarantine and import permits.

See our guide to MPI biosecurity cleaning for what the check involves.

Freight and broker fees: what moves them

Both change with every shipment, so there is no fixed price.

In New Zealand and Australia, duty and GST are calculated on a base that includes freight and insurance. A higher freight quote raises the tax bill.

A customs broker usually handles the border-agency process. Australia's ABF also lists an import processing charge as a separate line item, on top of duty, GST and the broker's fee.

Freight depends on the distance from the origin port, vessel or container availability, and how busy the destination port is when the machine lands.

Pick your market

New Zealand: Can be duty free with a valid Certificate of Origin under NZ's free trade agreements (check with a broker), 5% without. 15% GST.
Australia: Free duty, 10% GST.
Fiji: duty confirmed with a broker, 12.5% VAT.
Tonga: 3% duty plus 15% Consumption Tax.
Papua New Guinea: Free duty, 10% GST.

Each country page has the full figures, biosecurity detail and source links.

Other Pacific Islands

We also deliver to Samoa, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands and the Cook Islands. We don't have a duty figure solid enough to publish, so we won't guess. A customs broker can confirm the charges for your destination before you commit.